[Samurai]

The Rain Forest Challenge… a name spoken in hushed tones forever in the Indian off-road community. It is the holy grail of off-road events, with visions of V6/V8 powered beasts modded to the gills getting hauled up and down in impossible inclines via high powered winches. For years, the images of those monster off-roaders crossing water streams on a pair of suspended wooden logs gave us goose bumps and made us sigh in the same breath. Therefore, when we heard RFC is coming to India, the reactions varied from incredulity to overwhelming joy.



While the overwhelming joy is easy to understand, the incredulity part needs some explanation. If we look at the off-roading scene in India, we mostly do it using tarmac friendly vehicles. Almost all off-road vehicles drive long distance on tarmac to arrive at the off-road location. Therefore, they are prepared without compromising too much of their on-road capabilities. This will not work with RFC trails. Moreover, we are used to seeing Land Cruisers and Land Rovers on steroids on such trails. How will our ancient Jeeps/Gypsies with under-powered engines or CMVR complaint chassis/drivetrain fare in this competition?

Prior to 2011, the off-roading scene in India was primarily that of expedition type, with a rare exceptions like the Palar Challenge. Off-roading used to be elaborate adventure picnics, often attended by families including kids. Off-roaders went to remote exotic places in company of friends, but devoid of tourist crowd and mobile signals. This family friendly sport also had a strange entry barrier. It required the participant to maintain an ancient vehicle like Jeep or Gypsy, and live with the idiosyncrasies that came with its ownership. While most automobiles in India are modern, off-roading remained the bastion of ancient highway hating vehicles. Needless to say, it used to deter most yuppies from getting into off-roading, no matter how much they salivated at the prospect.

Then Mahindra Thar CRDe entered the Indian off-road scene with a modern engine, which was capable of much higher speed on road. Now it was possible to buy a highway cruising off-roader right from the showroom, and take it to most off-road events. This not only pumped fresh blood into the sports, but also opened the floodgates on competitive events. Nearly every off-road event turned into a competition or added a competition category. But it didn't change the scene significantly enough to push the old war horses into the history books. The old school Jeeps and Gypsies hung around and competed on equal footing on the off-road trails.

But RFC? The difficulty level of RFC meant only one thing. None of the old rules will work. Let’s consider some of the points:

• Street friendly vehicles are not an option. Every modification has to maximise off-road advantage without giving any thought to on-road advantage.
• The guy on the passenger seat is no more a passenger. He needs to work twice as hard as the driver.
• Limping out of the competition due to a minor breakdown is not an option. Every team needs a support vehicle with knowledgeable mechanics and sufficient parts inventory to keep the competition vehicle healthy day after day.
• Off-roading at RFC on a budget is not an option. The entry fee itself is steep and the expense for all the extreme modifications can be many times over. You may have to set aside at least ₹5 lakh budget for one team to participate.
• Winch and other recovery gear is not just for recovery anymore. Indian off-roaders generally have the mindset that winching is what you do after failing. You should be willing to winch as the first option rather than the last option.
• Another mindset change required regarding mods like lockers, mud tyres, lift kits, snorkels, improved gear ratios, etc. They are no more cop-outs. Be ready to use every advantage.

After the initial reaction ebbed, off-roaders all around the country found ways to get involved. Some signed up for competing, some as non-competing adventure tourists, some hearty souls signed as organisers and officials. One tragic part was the date clash with The Palar Challenge. That meant that the TPC organizers and competitors wouldn't be able to attend even as spectators. Otherwise, Team-BHP was represented heavily across the spectrum with BHPians in organizing team, officiating team, competing teams, adventure tourists, and finally even as media.

Compared to our regular OTR events, the 6-day RFC is really long. So, we at Team-BHP decided to cover only the toughest stages of RFC, that is the Predator, Terminator and Twilight Zone. Thus, I landed in Goa on the midnight just before the Predator event.

[Samurai]

First, let’s talk about the vehicles. Although two Malaysian vehicles were supposed to participate, they got stuck in customs and arrived only on the third day. As a result, the Indian RFC became a pure Indian event, with only Indian vehicles.

But, we can still drool at the Land Cruiser and the LR Defender that arrived late. I am not going into too many details since I didn't understand many of the modifications. So I’ll let you all just see them.

The Toyota Land Cruiser that belongs to a lady known as Aida, the Off-road Princess.





Notice that funky shackle and how axle is not at the center of the leaf spring.



The Land Rover Defender.

[Samurai]

Now let’s check out the Indian vehicles. Keep in mind that numbers starting with 100 are competition vehicles and numbers starting with 200 are support/tourist vehicles. Some are Media or Official vehicles.

As official sponsor, Force Motors had provided many Force Gurkha vehicles.



A rare Mazda BT-50.



These were some of the competition/support vehicles.















A comparison between a stock Gurkha and a competition Gurkha.

[Samurai]

Let’s look at some of the modifications and technologies in the competition vehicles.

A rare Thar CRDe with solid axle setup.



The IFS of the Gurkha was replaced with a solid axle & leaf springs. The steering system was Balwan tractor.



The competition winch which can spool very fast.



The contraption resembling the borewell hand pump on the bumper of many vehicles, is used to hold the winch hook at a height -useful when the vehicle is nose deep in water.



A regular winch at the rear, traction boards and ground anchor winch. Various types of it.









Many had moved the radiator to the cargo area at the back. This is to ensure that fan doesn't get destroyed when submerged in water.







The air intake is moved into the cabin via a long tube to avoid splashing water. The conical air filter is placed in the cabin between the heads of the driver and the passenger. I wonder how they put up with the howling air filter. It actually forms a closed loop control system. The driver presses the A-pedal, the air filter howls, the driver eases up on the A-pedal. A bit of an engineering joke…





OKBJ or Closed Knuckle, coilover is the flavour of the season.





This CJ has a very interesting suspension, quite beyond my understanding.



The Hyderabad CJ with a cabin mounted air filter.



This CJ has no dashboard.



It is all there on the ceiling, even the two winch remotes.



Gokak off-roader Ayub Khan smiles through the suspension.





Some competitors with their rides raring to go.

[Samurai]

The first two days of the competition (Prologue Stage) were held in a ground in the city, where one person could watch most of the action. However, I joined the event at the Predator Stage, which was held in a remote stone quarry. There were 6 special stages that day and the trails were spread across a mile-wide area. Each SS would require dedicated time to understand and to capture interesting action. Some of the SS trails were quite inaccessible by foot due to extensive obstacles. Therefore I decided to focus mainly on SS-14 and SS-15 which were next to each other, and could be covered together.

Entering the Predator trail.



As we walked into the trail, many of us saw a process never seen on the OTR day. The trail was being marked just hours before the event. I was told this is the way with the Australian off-road expert, David Metcalfe - he does it just before the event starts, and how…

This was SS-14 in the making.









The HQ area for Predator Stage.



Right next to that was SS-16 entrance, the rest is somewhere in the back.

[Samurai]

Finally the event is about to start, and I was ready at SS-14. It starts with a plunge into the stream and followed by two more plunges. After reaching the end, the vehicle has to retrace its steps all the way back. However, there is no room for U-turn at the end.











The first one to try a new trail usually ends up giving lots of hints to later drivers. For example, after seeing the trouble the first vehicle had in reversing up the slope, most of the later vehicles entered the trail in reverse.

Enter in reverse.





Exit in forward.





You can see the two drops here.



The water is really deep after the second drop. The rear tyre sinks fully.



Ok, nothing beats a video to show this action.

As Madhusudhan Reddy started down in reverse, his navigator Ramesh was so close behind the Gypsy that I was afraid he will get run over. Keep in mind Ramesh was walking backwards in the rocky river with no idea about where he was stepping. Fortunately he didn't trip on anything. That explains my opening comment when I started filming it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ0pA4Kea6I

At the end of the video, you’ll notice that he was stuck on a rock deep under the water. That rock was unrelenting. The only way to continue was from the extreme right side of the driver.

So he finally maneuvers to the extreme right side, reverses until the marshal signals touching the end of trail. Then he takes off in style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6yfDiYGwtQ

Then Abhinav/Laxmikanth Reddy show how it can be improved. They had seen enough vehicles do it by then. Even though they knew to stay extreme right, it takes multiple attempts to make it to that side.

http://youtu.be/8WduaGA9lis

[Samurai]

Next, I focused my attention on SS-15 as I saw a Gurkha getting winched up the slope.



Let’s take a closer look at this slope. It is not a smooth climb, but inundated with multiple rocky obstacles. A vehicle without a good lift would lose half the parts in its underbelly here.











Then I witnessed Ayub/Guhan’s team making their attempt.



Next they are tackling one of the trickiest section. Climbing up is easy, but coming down is tricky due to an intercepting tree.



The only way to recover is by winching and correcting the angle of descent.



Next, they attack the crazy slope filled with rocks.





They stumble at the first rocky part. However, instead of getting winched from that point, they reverse for some reason and get royally stuck at the bottom.



Once stuck here, recovery takes long. Therefore, taking continuous action was not possible. I was losing lot of time between competitions, but it couldn’t be helped.

Now Siddu/Viji come forward.



First to the tricky turn section.



Then suddenly the bunting tape comes unravelled. The marshal calls in a penalty for breaking the tape.

http://youtu.be/Hzu1v2XuDLw

And they get royally stuck at the tree.









After recovering from that, they approach the crazy rocky slope, and make one of the best climbs. It is sheer poetry.

http://youtu.be/HSAXstjuk5U

[Samurai]

After lunch I got back to SS-14 along with UBS and met the founder of RFC Luis J.A. Wee.



That is BHPian WhiteMM550 (Ashesh Dukle) and Uday Bhan Singh (UBS) with the Malaysians. Ashesh is one of the primary local organisers.



We watch the Malaysian pair do SS-14 very peacefully. The hand on the left bottom belongs to the RFC founder. You could see him everywhere, walking around and taking pictures like a fascinated tourist.



Also watched the sole ladies team do SS-14. But all vantage points for shooting photos were so crowded with locals that I couldn't shoot much. These ladies surely drew a crowd.



Then I saw Gursahib Singh, who was one of the Indian frontrunners of the day, tackle the crazy rocky climb at SS-15.

http://youtu.be/PcjAN5w4lbY

Then Ashesh took us around in his white Thar DI to couple of distant SS like 13 and 18, where not much action was happening. But SS-13 had multiple sunk vehicles, including this massive JCB.





I tried to get some action at SS-16. But it happened faster than I could get into a good vantage point.

http://youtu.be/TfPkpd2oXZA

To drop from the cement pipe, one needs to place the traction board like a bridge from the upper edge of the pipe to the ground.





Once the Jeep climbs down, driver will go on around the rest of the trail without the navigator, who walks back to the exit carrying the heavy boards. The navigator’s job is really tough in RFC.



After this I walked up the long trail, looking for action at SS-17 and SS-18. But my timing was unlucky and I found no action. There were recoveries in progress and I found some areas hard to access on foot. In fact, some of the SS could not be completed that day and continued the next morning.

The final results of Predator stage.

[Samurai]

Next day we were directly taken to the Terminator stage trail at DOT. It turned out that the entire trail belonged to Ashesh’s brother Manjunath Dukle, whom I had met back in 2008 MGE. This is the same place where Winch Challenge was held by Offroad Junkies.

Today we had a late start, since the competitors could come here only after completing the Predator stage. Exactly how late, was the question in everyone’s mind.

When we walked to the trail, we found our path blocked by a waist deep stream. And it started raining hard.





While the rest of the media hid their cameras under the rain poncho, I could click away with my fully waterproof mirrorless camera in the fierce rain.



While shooting this CJ in the rain, I suddenly discovered that the driver was none other than Dr. Tejas of Offroad Junkies.



He crosses over with loads of people in the rear.





Then it was our turn cross the stream in a rare Isuzu Trooper under Jeep Wagon body.





You can see the a big contingent of Indian sports media crossing the stream. This rare vehicle belongs to Manjunath Dukle. He is the one in green shirt, seen driving it across the stream.

http://youtu.be/-uDoapMxhGM

Two more vehicles cross over right behind us. The first one is Ashesh's Thar DI.

[Samurai]

Since most competitors had not arrived from Predator stage, I decided to recce the trails and find an ideal place to catch most action.

The SS-19 and SS-20 were across the stream and also not very photographer-friendly.



But, there was one place where I could catch SS-21, SS-22 and SS-23 easily. The SS-24 was too far away, at another place - again, not easy to shoot. Therefore, I decided to focus primarily on SS-21, SS-22 and SS-23.

The SS-22 was very technical and quite crazy.



It can be done only using winch, no other option can be even considered. And the apex of the climb, there are tree stumps waiting to gut the underbelly of the vehicle, I have circled it in red.





By then I noticed that the competitors were arriving, so I ran back to the stream at the entrance.

Fazal Ali, the gentleman from Hyderabad is having serious talk with his home team at the stream.



Some shots of new arrivals crossing the river.

http://youtu.be/1FVKAx_lWDc

And then the long wait starts. Although it was already 3 pm, I hung around with the Bangalore BODA team until the action started.



They made some tea and it was invigorating. Keep in mind none of us has had lunch, which finally arrived at 5 pm.

[Samurai]

The event finally started around 5 pm, after lunch was served. Then I saw Pradeep/Prithvi parked at SS-22.



The dashboard of a competition Thar CRDe is a horror to behold.



Usually I have never seen Prithvi step back from any obstacle, no matter how crazy. However, this time these guys were thinking very strategically. After looking closely at the tree stumps at the apex, they decide it is too dangerous for the Thar. Therefore, they decide to forfeit SS-22 by entering and returning back right away. Better to get 20 points than get thrown out of the event due to breakdown.

So they take a DNF (Did Not Finish)



Meanwhile some SS-21 action was happening on the river.













That climb from the stream looks very deceptive.

http://youtu.be/lxsdaw3MfVI

[Samurai]

Finally some action had started at SS-23, which involves long winching with two stages.





In order to gain a better vantage point, I decided to climb this really steep hill. This should give an idea about the steepness of the hill.



Interesting use of the snatch block.



As the winching started, I noticed something odd. The winch blanket was placed quite low (see the red blanket on the cable). After a while, it got stuck in the winch, neither the marshal nor the navigator seemed to notice it.

http://youtu.be/g8egp9oQGeU

Later I walked to the marshal and discussed it. She said the Jeep didn't get stuck because of the winch blanket, but due to the terrain. Can the winch blanket slide along the cable once it hits the winch fairlead? That too uphill? I was not convinced, the video shows what I saw.

Anyway, they ran out of time and had to collect a DNF. Even the next competitor met the same fate.

By now I had figured out the deal with SS-23. There is no way to make it with regular winch. You do need a very powerful competition winch that can spool very fast. With this amount of steepness, the winch has to practically carry the vehicle while fighting the gummy surface. Many found their 8000 lbs competition winch cutting out due to overload. Competition winch connected via snatch block to double the power might do the trick. But I didn't get to see anybody complete despite spending an hour on the hill. When I tried to climb down, I realised the real difficulty. It was so steep that it was not possible to walk down. You either have to crawl down or run down. Makes you wonder about the risks the navigator has to take to get down this trail while the timer is running. I finally ran down praying that I don’t trip and roll down the hill.

Such was the craziness of SS-23.



The Gypsy you see there had to be removed using a Tata Hitachi Excavator.

[Samurai]

When I came down, I met the ladies team, although a modified one. Navigator Sapna had to leave because of personal reasons, so the team was no more in the contention. No modification is allowed in the team structure. However, one can continue participation without earning any points. Now the Malaysian off-road princess Aida had joined Smitha’s team as naivgator. Aida owns the red Land Cruiser you saw earlier.



Back to SS-21 action, where the Indian frontrunner Gursahib was doing the trail.

http://youtu.be/Ofd2WPAEHVU

Next was the local boy Cedric, turns out he was doing it in 2WD using locker.

http://youtu.be/TUSxQHoqnyY

By now it was 7 pm and the day was coming to an end. This day I didn't walk around much. I mostly took rides from passing Jeeps by jumping on the footboard or rock sliders. Even crossing the streams was done in similar fashion.

Since the day only saw 2 hours of action, most of them had to do the Terminator stage next day. Therefore, some of us decided to come back here early to catch more action. I still had hope that someone will complete SS-22 and SS-23 in my presence.

The next day started with some action from the Pune team in SS-21.







For some reason, the driver was having lots of difficulty compared to most.

http://youtu.be/etGMEoNUhVM

http://youtu.be/4t4q3eA3lcs

Finally after lots of tries, his perseverance finally paid off.

http://youtu.be/tBBHTGWcD-8

[Samurai]

Eventually I got to witness someone do SS-22. It takes a long time, hence no video.









Notice the stumps now.



And they make it. But they didn't finish the rest on time and got a DNF.



The entrance and exit of SS-19, hardly shootable beyond this point.



Finally I got to see somebody do SS-23.





Notice how the navigator jumps in and moves the winch blanket up. Also notice the winch speed.

http://youtu.be/RVl6PgkgOCQ

Second winching stage of SS-23.

http://youtu.be/8fHzCLy_HOA

And the rapid climb down.

http://youtu.be/Cx1_WsJtg-0

Next Gursahib was at SS-23. This should be interesting, and it was.



Have you wondered why Gerrari team was doing so well? It is not just the superb support team, or extreme mods done to their vehicles, but the superb attitude they imbibed into every activity.

Look at the next photo. You might think it is the navigator who is running up with the winch cable. No, it is the driver. As the navigator ran up with the tree saver and D shackles, within seconds the driver followed him with the winch cable, saving valuable time. In most other teams, the drivers just watched the navigator run up and down waiting for the cable to be set up.



And how do they come down the slope? Not running, which could be quite dangerous and may break a limb. Not gingerly crawling down, which might cost time. But they slide down on their butt like baseball players. Safe and fast, at the cost of a pant.



But let’s review the video, see how they do it.

http://youtu.be/NPiRgx_gs44

You will find it lot slower thanks to regular winch, but they make the best of it.

http://youtu.be/QqCYiXVwp3c

Thus they make it to the top.



But in the second stage, their winch starts smoking and that was the end of it. They got zero points for this SS inspite of all the effort.



Ashish Gupta, the chief organizer of the event and the man who brought RFC to India, looks visibly dismayed at the failure of vehicle 122.



Meanwhile, the road has turned into a mud soup after two days rain and non-stop traffic.



All vehicles had completed all the 6 SS at Terminator stage. It was time to take off towards the distant Twilight Zone mystery trail.

Before that, the vehicles need washing.



And Madhusudhan Reddy from BODA is showing off his finely sculpted body. A male version of bikini car wash.







Boys having some fun while the media is waiting for someone to take us across.







The results of Terminator stage. Notice the number of DNF score of 20.

[Samurai]

After a long leisurely drive through the green hills and valleys of Goa, we finally reach the camp site for Twilight zone. This is a very different kind of trail. The vehicles are supposed to enter the forest at the far end, then crawl and climb through 5 km of uncharted wilderness and come out at the camp site. There are no trails, no bunting tapes and no penalties. It is basically survival off-roading and it happens entirely at night. The competitors have 15 hours to pull it off. This stage is the first of its kind in India.

They are supposed to come out of this mountain. We couldn't see any way other than rolling down.



Meanwhile, the officials have another look at the terrain. The Australian expert is of the opinion that it is too dangerous to do at night. Therefore, instead of starting at 7 pm, the event is postponed to next morning.

Once the decision is announced, the competitors prepare to sleep.



So the media had nothing to do, and were forced to return back. Just before I left I shot the pic of 3 friends/BHPians who played organiser, marshal and competitor role respectively in this RFC. The Twilight zone hill was looming ominously in the back.



Next morning I got the news that the competitors have entered the mountain from the far end at 6:30 am. However, the Twilight zone turned out to be so difficult, nobody managed to complete it. Therefore, the results were announced based on the scores until Terminator stage.



(From L to R): Mr. David Metcalfe, Malaysia’s Tang Eng Joo, Mr. Prasan Firodia, co-driver Tan Choon Hong, Mr. Luis J.A. Wee and Mr. Ashish Gupta



(From L to R): Mr. David Metcalfe, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Co- driver Mr. Gagan Sachdeva, Driver Mr. Kabir Waraich, Mr. Luis J.A. Wee and Mr. SPS Garcha



As the first Rain Forest Challenge comes to an end, it raises a lot of questions in the mind of an off-roader, especially those who attended this event in any capacity.

• How does this affect other OTR events in the country?
• Will the difficult level remain the same, or will they start raising the stakes?
• What happens when these RFC-prepared off-road vehicles show up at local OTR events?
• The mindset changes forced by RFC, will they percolate to local OTRs?
• RFC fueled a cottage industry of extreme modding for 4WD vehicles. Off-road kits designed for foreign models were adapted/modified to fit the local Jeep/Gypsies. Most of them are very experimental mods, and would eventually mature if proper engineering expertise is provided. Will that happen?
• Did the budget to enter the sport of off-roading just go up?
• India motor vehicle act forbids any kind of vehicle modification. Therefore, most current modifications are done within reason, to pass any routine scrutiny by the RTO. But RFC type modification won’t pass even the lightest of scrutiny. RTO could have rightfully seized every competition vehicle while driving on Goan roads. How will this be regularised?

One thing is clear for all attendees, RFC has clearly changed how we look at off-roading in India. By how much, only the future can tell.

The End.